AS impossible as it seems, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are officially among the elder statesmen of rock.

It may feel like yesterday that you were singing “Suck My Kiss” or “Under the Bridge,” but it’s been 20 years of tattoos, spanking college girls on stage at spring break shows and playing encores wearing nothing but strategically placed jock socks.

The seminal Southern California punk/funk outfit first began playing together in 1982.

A hint of their greatness was evident with the 1989 record “Mother’s Milk,” and came to fruition as they began working with producer Rick Rubin on albums such as “BloodSugarSexMagik,” “Californication” and the recent “By the Way.”

With the exception of guitarist John Frusciante, everyone in the band is in his 40s.

Flea, born Michael Bazary, 40, dates himself when he describes the music he preferred as a kid.

“I was raised on jazz and bebop. That’s the music that really moved me. Before I played bass, I played trumpet.” But his brass dreams vaporized when he started listening to punk and learned to play the instrument he’s best known for – the bass.

“I love the bass,” Flea told The Post after a sound check in Toronto this week. “I love the way my strings feel under its fingers.’ “

You want to correct Flea about what has strings and who has fingers, but like Popeye, this thoughtful performer says what he means and means what he says.

The band plays sold-out shows Monday at the Meadowlands and Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Flea: We have an underlying love and a brotherhood. We have disagreements, but they’re part of being in a band.

Post: Have the Chili Peppers ever considered calling it quits?

Flea: No. As long as the music is vibrant and exciting and meaningful for us to do, we’re going to continue. See, music is a spiritual exercise. We’re trying to get close to the source of where it comes from. If we didn’t feel movement in the music, that feeling of change, then we wouldn’t still be together. It’s not like we need the money.

Post: You also practice yoga.

Flea: It makes me feel good. I like it. That’s all. Particularly when I’m on tour, living at that crazy pace, dealing with gigs every night where I jump around like an insane man. Yoga is perfect for me. It’s slow and gets me in touch with myself.

Post: Is the workout you get on stage and yoga how you keep trim?

Flea: I’m naturally a skinny guy. I have a fast metabolism. If I get out of shape, I don’t get fat, I get really skinny. I exercise. I surf. I play basketball. This is the way I live.

Post: Before, you mentioned the improvisational elements of the Chili Peppers. People don’t really think of you guys as a jam band.

Flea: We really are. More than half of our songs come out of jamming. When we play live, we always jam. It’s a big part of who we are. We’ve played a lot of music into the air and it disappears without ever being recorded.

Post: Your devotion to funk has been a signature of the Chili Peppers. Where does that come from?

Flea: I’ve always been very into funk, since I was a kid. Then, it was the punk bands of the late ’70s and the early ’80s that moved me.

Post: How does funk come to terms with punk?

Flea: The music and the feeling of funk dictated my concept of what music was. The energy of punk rock, the feeling of the moment, was something I tapped into. I couldn’t help but relate to it in a natural way. When you put that together, the music comes out the way it is.

Post: I’ve read you love Australia.

Flea: I was born there, and I’m a citizen of Australia.

Post: If you ever retire, is that where you’ll go?

Flea: I already have a home there. I’ve considered moving because I’m such a nature boy and my place is in a very rural area, but for the time being, it doesn’t make sense. Even if I wasn’t in the Chili Peppers, I’d still want to make music at a high level, with other musicians who excite me. It’s hard to find them way out in the country.

Post: Your daughter Clara is 13. She has one of the most famous fathers in rock. How does she deal with the celebrity?

Flea: It isn’t a problem for her. She doesn’t like it if she feels like someone wants to hang out with her because of me. But she’s a clear-headed kid and she sees when that situation is manifesting itself.

Post: You’re a single father. Does that make touring hard?

Flea: It’s difficult to be away from her. She wants me to be home, because she misses me and loves me – likewise for me. It causes me a lot of melancholy. I want to be there to guide her and help her with her schoolwork, and do all the things dads want to do. That’s the challenge in my life.